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Council Bluffs to Receive $166,500 for Brownfields Redevelopment Planning

April 25th, 2013 by Ric Hanson

(AP) — The city of Council Bluffs has been awarded a $166,500 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to develop a plan for cleaning up a 70-acre area populated by vacated industrial business buildings falling in disrepair.

The city has identified the former Katelman Foundry as the initial site in the area for redevelopment. The former steel fabrication business on 3.8 acres filed for bankruptcy in 2005 and moved its operations out of the neighborhood. It includes eight parcels spanning several city blocks.

The EPA program providing the money focuses on rehabilitating brownfields — property that may have hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants that prevent redevelopment.

Council Bluffs is one of 20 communities nationwide to receive a grant.